Agricultural News
New Webinar Tackles Misinformation About LFTB
Wed, 09 May 2012 15:38:23 CDT
A producer of videos for the food service industry is tackling the misinformation being peddled by opponents of Lean Finely Textured Beef.
Food Seminars International has created the video "Lean Finely Textured Beef 'Pink Slime': Separating Myths and Reality."
Aaron Brown of FSI said he chose the topic of LFTB because "it has been featured prominently in the news lately, and it is a topic laced with controversy."
He said most of the news coverage has been weak on facts. The initial photograph that accompanied the early news stories, for instance, was lean, finely textured poultry, not beef. The product descriptions tended to be overwrought and misleading. Social web sites latched onto the initial and factually incorrect reports and rebroadcast them extensively - going viral in a matter of hours.
The FSI video is presented by Dr. Keith Warriner of the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. Warriner is a professor of food science studying the safety of fresh produce and meat.
Warriner takes a balanced approach, letting the facts tell the story.
"I think this is a good example, with this pink slime, of how the public media or mass media or these chat rooms like Facebook and Twitter really have provided a means of misinformation which essentially means producers and suppliers have to go beyond just educating customers," Warriner said.
He said he tried to address the myths and realities regarding LFTB to get the facts on the table so that consumers can make science-based choices. He said he wanted to take the opportunity to clear the air and lay the groundwork for solid decision-making because "in the future, there will be more examples of these sort of food safety issues being blown out of proportion and spread within the social media groups."
The fallout from the campaign continues with LFTB supplier AFA Foods filing for bankruptcy. The main source of LFTB, BPI, announced it would close three-fourths of its plants permanently, costing 650 jobs.
The lost business was caused in part by several major fast-food restaurant chains that stopped using LFTB to avoid adverse publicity.
You can watch the FSI webinar by clicking on the play button in the video below.
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